Jacksonville, Fl. (March 25th, 2017) – Florida A&M looked to avoid the sweep on Sunday in game three of their non-conference series with the Ospreys of North Florida.
The Ospreys struck first, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. After reaching on a single, Tanner Murphy later scored from third on a throwing error by the catcher. Blake Voyles then drove in Jay Prather with a double to right center to give the Ospreys a 2-0 lead after one inning of play.
UNF added two more runs in the second inning. Dalton Board drove in Alex Reynolds with a single up the middle. Tanner Murphy then drove in Rey Gonzalez with a single to left center, extending the Ospreys' lead to 4-0.
The Rattlers cut into the lead with a run in the top of the third. Jacky Miles continued to have a productive weekend at the plate, driving in Ty Russ with a single through the left side to make it a 4-1 game.
Blake Voyles led off the Ospreys' half of the third with a solo homer to right field. Alex Hendricks later scored from third on a throwing error by the catcher to extend the UNF lead to 6-1 after three innings of play.
North Florida continued their scoring in the fourth. Jay Prather tripled to right center field and then scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Max Law. They would tack on another run in the sixth thanks to a Rey Gonzalez down the left field line that scored Alex Reynolds to make it an 8-1 game.
Tanner Murphy then led off the sixth inning with his third homerun of the weekend. UNF was not done there, as Blake Voyles would hit his second homerun of the day, driving in Max Law, and Alex Reynolds would make it back to back homeruns with a solo shot to left field, giving UNF a 12-1 lead after six innings of play.
The Rattlers finally cut into the lead in the eighth inning. Dallas Oliver, who reached on a fielder's choice after a single by Kaycee Reese, scored on a bases loaded walk to Octavien Moyer. Brian Davis, who singled up the middle, then scored from third on a wild pitch. Ty Russ also walked with the bases loaded, scoring Octavien Moyer to make it a 12-4 game going into the bottom of the eighth.
UNF made it 13-4 in the bottom half, thanks to a single to center by Alex Reynolds, driving in Jay Prather, who reached base on an error.
The Ospreys would hold this lead in the ninth, as Cooper Bradford got the win for UNF, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings. Adam Polansky started the game, going 2.2 innings and giving up one earned run. Brad Depperman, Eddie Miller, Matt Vaka, and Trace Norkus each made an appearance out of the bullpen.
Florida A&M starter Dallas Oliver got his fourth loss of the season, and the Rattlers dropped to 11-16 on the year. Oliver tossed 4 frames, giving up six earned runs while striking out two. Jeremiah McCollum, Jamie Grant, Hunter Fillingim, and Dylan Carlson each threw 1 inning of relief.
The Rattlers will look to get back on the winning side of things this Tuesday, March 27th, as they will host the Bears of Mercer University back in Tallahassee, Florida. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 PM.
